Need some ideas

Wasup everybody i gotta start off by saying I learned a lot on this site and I used to love GC but now i am mainly here lol..I am going to be doing a gro soon of 1-2 plants and was wondering if i should do a HPS gro or CFL..My electric bill is the only factor Im willing to put a descent chunk in 4 a setup but dont want nething charging me out the yang in the future...O and I forgot its just a closet gro of 3x3 ft and plenty of vertical space

if your only doing one plant in a 3x3, than a 200 or 400w HPS would do the trick!

Check out this thread, it has all the best prices on everything you could possibly need to start your first grow!
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/237610-best-deals-thread-post-best.html
Hope this helps, lmk if u need anything els!
P.s.- Soil or Hydro

Personally,

If I had to do it all over again with today's technology...

Id get a 600W HPS (or even 1000W) DIMMABLE LUMATEC Ballast. Unlike the stuff we grow - the ACT of
growing is an addictive hobby, and almost everyone wants better gear down the road. These new ballast
can be "Dialed In" to your exact needs - and you'll be able to use it from now on, when you expand/improve.

My Dad used to tell me "Buy the best, you'll never want for more!"

werd... torontoone is right....

I got the Quantum digital 600w ballast... and a nice hood/hortilux bulb. you can dim it to 300w while the plants are growing and 600w would be a waste... it will blow the shit out of any CFLs you can find an fit in there... but you might have to put it in a vented hood and run an exhaust for it....

toronto1 - i like your dads saying... mine is "buy nice, not twice..."

peace

I have two going under 400w hps. I would want to use nothing less even for one plant. oops just added two so I have four but the first two will be done very soon. a 400w setup w/fans and 400w of cfl run me about 35.00 a month extra on my bill. Thats not bad for 3-5 oz every 3 months or so. If I got my shit togather and went with mh for veg and hps for flower I could improve my yeilds alot.

I would say if you're looking to practice or see if the hobby is right for you to try CFLs as they are inexpensive both in initial cost and electricity wise.

If you are almost positive this is for you, you want great results, and you are looking for a place to start I would say to buy a dimmable 600w ballast/lamp or a 400w ballast/lamp.
If you think it might be an option that you man move out of your closet to a bigger setup try to think ahead. I have already had to upgrade a few things that I wish I would have bought in the first place due to upscaling.

400w of cfl cost the same as 400w of hps.The heat is about the same also. With that said you can grow under 100w of cfl. I had one that was under one. 100w cfl and grew to 4'. I will say it might have got some side light from the other cfl but not much if it did. the tubes behind were never on.